Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester United: 5 Tactics from Solskjaer that won the game

#3 Alternating Back 4 and Back 3

Crystal Palace v Manchester United - Premier League

There was a lot of initial confusion regarding who among Young and Dalot would start at right back. After the start of the game, it was noticed that Young had continued in his right back role, while Dalot joined Lukaku and Sanchez in the attack. However, contrary to his regular tactics, Solskjaer made a subtle change to the roles entrusted to his two fullbacks.

While Shaw enjoyed his normal role, Young was a lot more restrained. He rarely ventured forward to join his attackers, preferring instead to let Dalot do all the attacking. When United went forward, they switched to a back 3 of Young, Smalling, and Lindelof. This denied the Palace attackers and speedy wingers any room or opportunity to count counter attacks. When United lost the ball they reverted back to a back 4.

As such, Wilfried Zaha had a quiet game and even though Palace did have the odd chances, they failed to cause United too much trouble. A loss in concentration in the second half did allow the home team to get back into the game. But Solskjaer responded by moving Young forward in an attacking role and the Englishman grabbed United's third.